Catch the White-Striped Swoobat
by Fireblazezz
Summary: This is my second story, kinda random, and it's about Touko and... ... yeah, you'll have to read it ;) And it's not great but you'll just have to live with that :P And please don't judge this becuase of my lack of creativity I hope you'll like it! ;)
1. Clay's Order

Clay's Order

"Remind me why I'm doing this." Touko said as she polished Bianca's little Lillipup model.

Bianca looked up from where she was piling her Pokémon magazines.

"Because we had a bet, and you said if I won it, you would help me with a little something." She said, giggling.

Touko stared at her, one hand holding the Lillipup model, the other hand holding a small towel. "Yeah, but I didn't think you'd make me take care of your Pokémon collection," she exclaimed, pointing at the shelf full of small Pokémon models, "which is _huge!_"

Bianca giggled again. "Yeah, well, a bet's a bet, and I won it" she said.

"And when you're done with that—" she nodded at the shelf. "—you can take care of this."

She dropped the pile of magazines on the floor with a thud.

Touko fell back against the shelf, gaping. "You've got to be _kidding _me!" she gasped.

Bianca giggled.

Touko slapped her hands to her face, just as the X-Transceiver started to ring. Touko answered.

"Hi, it's Touko.. Oh, hey, Clay!".

Bianca leaned in to hear the conversation.

"_Been a while since I saw yer face, kid." _Clay grunted.

Touko giggled. "Yeah, it's been a while." She said. "So, what can I do for you?"

"_If ya don't mind, I'd appreciate if ya came over to the Gym.. We can talk then." _

Touko blinked. "Uh, sure, I'll be right there." She said with a nod.

"_Hm." _Clay hung up.

Bianca looked at Touko. "So, what did the Gym Leader want?" she asked. "I don't know, he told me to come over." Touko answered.

Then she smiled and stood up. "So, I'd better go!" she said and strode towards the door. "Hey, wait!" Bianca said, standing up as well. "You're not done polishing my Pokemon collection!"

"Sorry, Bianca, can't disobey a Gym Leader!" Touko said before running down the stairs.

"Hey, wai—Touko!" Bianca called after her.

"Come on, Sauro, we'd better hurry." Touko said as she summoned her Sigilyph outside Bianca's house. She seated herself on its back, and they took off.

Touko felt excited as she and her Pokémon sailed through the sky. She thought of Bianca for a split second, but decided that she could apologize later. Not that it was necessary…

A while later they arrived in Driftveil City.

Sauro dropped her off outside the Gym. Touko jumped off and found Clay waiting for her inside. She smiled and waved as she was greeting him. Clay gave her a curt nod.

"So, what's up?" Touko asked.

Clay cleared his throat. "Well, ya know Juniper – or _Professor _Juniper as you might call her -, she had done some interesting researches in some of the nearby caves."

Touko gave a sympathetic nod as Clay continued; "and she found somethin' rather interestin' outside Wellspring Cave."

He cleared his throat once again. "It was a Swoobat that'd recently evolved. The strange thing, though, was tha' this bat Pokémon had gained a white stripe across its head."

Touko raised an eyebrow at this. "A white stripe?". "Yes, a white stripe." Clay repeated.

Touko looked confused. ".. So, what? Is there a problem?"

"Well, ya see, kid.. Usually Pokemon species look about the same when they evolve. Their appearance is not very different. Not at all, actually.." And with a point at his forehead, he continued;

"So, this Swoobat isn't supposed to have a white-striped head. Apparently, it's been driven away by the other Pokémon as well."

Touko frowned at this. "And, when Juniper was gonna take it to a lab for examination, it escaped and flew away, towards the caves around here." He continued.

"And, now, as Juniper is kind of busy with other things, she wants me to go and fetch the Swoobat, since she knows that I know these caves."

He cleared his throat for the third time.

"So, what I'm trying to say is, that I'm kinda busy with my own stuff as well, so—.", "—You want me to fetch it for you." Touko finished.

Clay nodded curtly. "Think yer up for it?"

Touko grinned. "Well, sure. And it's for the Swoobat's sake too, right?"

"Well, yeah, tha's why they're goin' to examine it.. ya know, to be sure it can go on without being discriminated by the other Pokemon, and.. oh, I dunno, but they wanna help it, that's for sure." Clay grunted.

Touko nodded. "So, do you know where it is now?".

Clay gave it a thought, before he answered; "Think she said it was heading for the Chargestone Cave.."

Touko nodded for a second time, then turned around and strode towards the exit, waving her arm at Clay. "Ok, no problem! I'll fetch the Swoobat! See ya!", and with that, Touko opened the door and went outside.

Though, just as she was about to summon her Sigilyph, she heard Bianca's call from above.

Touko looked up, and saw her riding on a Tranquil.

"Touko!" she cried down. Touko stood by and watched as she landed – somewhat ungracefully – on the ground.

"Listen, if you've come here to drag me along back home, just to finish polishing and sorting your Pokémon models, then—.", "-No, Touko, that's not what I came for!" Bianca said impatiently. She then looked Touko straight in the eyes and asked; "So.. what did Clay want?", and Touko explained about the white-striped Swoobat.

Bianca blinked, confused. "Oh… I see."

Bianca was quiet for a while, and Touko noticed her frown.

"Err.. umm.." Touko tilted her head. "What?"

"Uh, well.." Bianca said, looking down at her feet. ".. Do you.. do you think I can come with you?"

Touko looked at her for a while, then smiled and answered; "Yeah, sure. I could use some help."

Bianca looked up, beaming. "Oh, really? Thanks a lot, Touko! I was so bored back home, I'm sure this will be a lot of fun!"

Touko nodded, then glanced at the Tranquil who was standing beside Bianca. "Where did you get that from?"

"Oh, Lavender?" Bianca said and turned to watch the elegant bird. "I borrowed her from my mom.. I was in a rush to catch up with you, though, so.. I didn't really.. oh, whatever." She finished, giggling.

She turned to Touko. "So, are we going?"

Touko was already searching her bag for her Poké Ball. She threw it up in the air and summoned Sauro.

Bianca frowned at him.

"Are you going to ride _that one?_" she asked. Bianca never liked Touko's Sigilyph.

Touko raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I am." She answered. "Sauro is a great Pokémon, and I completely trust him. Besides, I couldn't just leave him in the Desert Resort.. Because he.. he looked.. lonely." She finished quietly.

Bianca stared at her. "It couldn't possibly be lonely, there were _tons _of other Sigilyphs there, right?"

Touko ignored her.

"And his back is really comfy."

"Yeah, it's not the _back _I'm—."

"Ok, are you coming or not?"

"Sorry, I'm coming!" Bianca finished quickly.

And they seated themselves on their Pokémon and took off, Touko on Sauro and Bianca on Lavender.


	2. The Friendly Family

The Friendly Family

Up in the air, Bianca almost immediately forgot about her dislike of scary-psychic-random-coloured-birds as they sailed among the clouds. She lightened up and started laughing, holding out her arms to catch the breeze.

Touko smiled and laughed as well, then reminded herself of what they were supposed to do. Then it struck her.

She suddenly crossed her arms and frowned, deep in thought. _What am I supposed to catch it with?_

She opened her messenger bag and took out a Poké Ball. Could this work? No, then the Pokémon would be hers, right? She scratched her head, somewhat troubled now.

"What's wrong, Touko?!" Bianca shouted, barely audible because of the strong gusts.

"I'm not sure what to catch the Swoobat with!" Touko shouted back.

"_What?!"_

"I said, _I'm not sure what to catch the Swoobat with!" _

"_Whaat?! I can't hear you, Touko!"_

"Arceus, Bianca.. Jeez, NEVER MIND!_"_

"I'm sorry, _what?!"_

"I SAID, _NEVER MIND!_"

"_WHAAT?!"_

Touko was about to yell back again, then sighed, giving up.

But the wind was blowing rather fiercely now. Maybe they should head down.. Better safe than sorry.

Touko yelled at Bianca, then gave her a gesture to go down for landing. Bianca looked slightly bewildered at first, but she seemed to understand after a while. So, they flew downwards, and found a good place to land on.

Judging by the landscape, they seemed to be on Route 6.

Touko and Bianca jumped off their Pokémon, and then, of course, out of nowhere, came the blizzard.

Dark clouds gathered above them. Lightning thundered and it started to rain. Touko swore under her breath.

Bianca tried to shelter herself using her hat. "It's raining!"

"I know! Come on, we need to find shelter!" Touko shouted.

They ran, following the road, hoping to find something that could protect them from the horrible weather. They ran for minutes that felt like hours.

They were soaking wet and their feet hurt, when they passed a house. They stopped as an old lady stuck her head out the door and called for them. "Youngsters over there! Come on in, or you'll catch a cold!"

Touko and Bianca obeyed at once and ran towards the house. They entered the living room and the heat overwhelmed them.

They stood there and panted for a while. The living room was rather big; a TV stood against the wall with a red carpet beneath that stretched to a brown couch – Touko resisted the temptation to jump into it and cuddle herself in – which a boy, who looked rather confused, was sitting in. And two armchairs and a large bookshelf.

The old lady closed the door behind them as Bianca thanked her repeatedly; "Th.. thanks a lot, granny..! Man, I thought we were gonna drown out there. What a storm.. Arceus, thanks again!"

The old lady turned to them, smiling.

"But, of course, dear." She said to Bianca, chuckling. "No one would want to be outside in this weather."

Touko blinked.

Of course! This was the lady that'd welcomed her inside the last time she'd been here, during another horrible blizzard, and she'd told Touko about Tornadus.

Touko wondered if she recognized her.

"My dear, who are these children?" asked a voice that belonged to an old man, who was walking towards them from the kitchen. Touko didn't recognize him from last time, though.

"What? We have _guests?" _said a woman's voice, from the kitchen as well.

"Wait, I'll be right there! Just a sec…"

The old lady turned to Touko, then chuckled again.

"My, my, it's you, little girl. How nice to see you again." She said with a warm smile.

Touko tried to smile back, though it felt like the muscles in her jaws had gone numb. Bianca looked at her with a questioning look.

"We met during my journey." Touko murmured.

"Come, please sit down." The old lady said. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Bianca sprinted to one of the armchairs, clearly not thinking of being polite. Touko nodded with a grateful smile and carefully placed herself in the couch; the boy looked away nervously.

The old man sat down in the armchair next to Bianca, carefully studying them. He then turned to the old lady, who Touko assumed was his wife, and asked; "Have you met these girls before?"

"Oh, yes, this pretty brunette passed by for quite a long time ago, while you were working in the Poké Transfer Laboratory." The old lady answered.

"Eh? Oh, I see." Said the old man, nodding.

Touko was about to ask him about the lab, when the woman that'd talked before walked in, carrying a tray with cups of coffee and cookies.

"There! Please have a cookie. I just baked—." she broke off when she saw Touko. "Oh! It's you!" she said.

Touko gave her a slight wave.

The old lady sat down in the couch between Touko and the boy.

"So…" she said, turning to Touko. "What brings you and your friend here?"

Touko had no intention of lying. She told them about the Swoobat that they were supposed to catch.

When she'd finished, she noticed that the boy was staring at her, eyes the size of two tennisballs.

"Are you… a _Pokémon Trainer?" _He asked.

Touko was slightly shocked to hear his voice; he'd been quiet for such a long time.

"Yeah, I'm a Trainer." She answered. "And Bianca too."

The boy turned to Bianca, who was stuffing herself with cookies. He didn't look very convinced.

The old man was resting his head on his fists, watching them.

Touko remembered about the lab and seized the opportunity.

"Er, mister.." she cleared her throat as the old man turned to her. "You… you've been working in the Poké Transfer Lab?"

His face lightened up.

"Oh, yes, yes, I have." He said, nodding. "I'm a scientist, you see."

"Really?" Touko put a fascinated look on her face.

"Yes, a very amusing job, actually." The old man continued. "But now the days I mostly work with Poké Balls, machines and such."

"Oh.. I see." Touko bit her lip.

They fell silent.

"You look troubled." Stated the old man.

"Oh, well.. it's just.. I don't really know what to catch the Swoobat with." Touko said.

The old man fell deep in thought.

"Wait here, I'll be back in a second." He said after a while, and he rose from his chair and walked out of the room.

Bianca glanced after him while crunching her cookie loudly.

Touko turned to her.

"Bianca, can't you eat a little more quietly?"

"Sure."

Bianca swallowed and then started gulping her coffee. Horribly loudly.

"Bianca.." Touko sighed.

"Right, sorry." Bianca started giggling.

Touko rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smiling.

"Is it fun to be a Pokémon Trainer?"

Bianca fell silent.

The boy had suddenly spoken, and was looking at them now, blushing. Bianca beamed at him.

"Yeah, it's great!" she laughed. "You get to do all kinds of cool stuff, and meet tons of cool Pokémon!"

The red colour in the boy's face faded.

".. Really..? Wow.." the boy looked down at his feet.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Bianca giggled.

"Umm.. can.. can I.." the blush on the boy's face returned. "Can I.. can you.. show me..?" he finally asked.

Bianca looked confused. "Show you what?"

The boy stared at her. "Your Pokémon!"

"Eh? Oh!" Bianca slapped her forehead. "Of course! Here, look at this."

She dumped her bag on the floor and took out the Poké Balls inside. She summoned the first one.

"This is my Musharna."

The boy's eyes grew huge. He looked very impressed.

"Wow! That is so cool" he exclaimed.

Bianca blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's super cool!"

Bianca beamed. "Alright, take a look at this one!" she said happily and summoned the second Pokémon.

"This is my Simipour!" she said.

The boy watched the monkey-like Water Pokémon jump onto Musharna's back, playfully.

"Wow, Bianca! You've _caught _these?! You're awesome! And your Pokémon! You really are!" he exclaimed.

"R-really..? Aww, you..!" Bianca blushed and hid her face in her hat.

Touko watched as Bianca continued to show off her Pokémon to the boy – apparently his name was Timmy -, and laughed and discussed Pokémon battles, and she also told him about her journey.

"Oh, my god! That one is _so _cool—Mom, Grandma, look at this one!" Timmy exclaimed and pointed at Bianca's Chandelure.

The old lady and Timmy's mother sat by, smiling and giggling at the sight of them, and the old lady started telling stories about when she'd been training Pokémon as well.

"Found it!" called the old man from somewhere below; probably from their basement.

A while later he entered the room, carrying something that looked like a large landing net.

"Here." He said, holding it out in front of Touko. "This is a Poké Net."

Touko eyed it carefully.

"What did you say it was?" she asked.

"A Poké Net." Repeated the old man. "I made it a long time ago, but I never got to use it, so.. I put it away."

He looked at Touko. "This landing net is made for catching Pokémon, but unlike Poké Balls, you've got them locked up only temporarily."

Touko raised an eyebrow at it. "Temporarily?"

"Yes. It is an item that will allow you to catch and move Pokémon to a place, and then be able to release it. And they cannot escape from it like from an ordinary net or a bag, not until you allow them to."

"Really?" Touko observed the Poké Net. "Wow. That is a great invention."

"Like I said before, I had no real need of it.. but, I think it will be a lot more useful to you." The old man said and held it out to Touko.

Touko looked at him, then at the Poké Net, then back at him again.

"For me?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'm sure it will help you catch the Pokémon you're looking for."

"Really? Arceus.." Touko took it and weighed it in her hands. "Thanks a lot, mister!"

The old man chuckled friendly.

Touko turned around. "Bianca! Look what the old mister gave us!" she said.

Bianca, who, amazingly, had been listening, was staring at Touko with the same intense excited look in her eyes that she had when they got their Starter Pokémon.

"Now we can catch the Swoobat." Touko said with a grin.

"_Yeesss!" _Bianca squealed. "_Ooooh!_ I'm so excited!"

She and Touko shared a high-five. Bianca then turned around and collected all her Pokémon, and Touko shook hands with the friendly family.

"Thanks so much, we'll never be able to repay you.."

They simply waved it off, smiling.

"Not at all, it was our pleasure to help." The old lady grinned, following them to the door.

"Take care, and be careful" Timmy's mother said as she bid them farewell.

"Let's meet again soon, Bianca and Touko!" Timmy said happily. "I promise I'll become a great Trainer when I grow up!"

"Alright, you said it!" Bianca giggled. "Take care, Timmy!"

"Make sure to catch the Pokémon." The old man said.

Touko and Bianca nodded.

"Good luck then, girls."

"See ya! Thanks again!"

And Touko and Bianca took off, once again; Down the road on Route 6 and towards Chargestone Cave.

"Those people were really nice." Bianca said.

"Yeah."

"And their cookies were _really _good."

Touko looked at her friend.

"Is that really all you can think about? The cookies?"

"Ok, ok, I liked the coffee too.."

They started laughing. It felt good.

A while later they were finally there, at the entrance of the Chargestone Cave.

Now all they had to do was to catch the Swoobat and bring it to Clay or Juniper. Easy, right?

"Let's do it." Touko said, turned to Bianca who nodded as an answer.

And they entered the cave.

They would finish their mission in the blink of an eye. Though, Touko couldn't help but noticing Bianca nudge her arm just when they walked into the pitch black darkness.


	3. Earthquakes

Earthquakes

"I can't see a thing in here, Touko." Bianca whispered nervously as they walked.

"I know, but it'll get brighter soon." Touko said. "The electrically charged stones will light up the cave. We'll reach them soon, I think."

Bianca nodded – though, Touko couldn't see it – but swallowed nervously nonetheless. She grabbed Touko's arm. Touko tried to feel her way through the cave using her arm, the one Bianca didn't hold. All they could hear was their breathing, and the echo of their steps.

Something fell onto the ground with a thud; Bianca's grip hardened, making Touko tilt to the side.

"Bianca, you're pulling me down." Touko whimpered. The grip lightened slightly.

"Sorry.." Bianca murmured.

"Oh, cheer up. Look, there they are!" Touko said encouragingly, pointing at the end of the dark tunnel. Bianca immediately looked happier as they approached the blue light.

They stood still and admired the floating, shiny blue rocks for a while.

"Come on." Touko said after a while, and they moved on.

They walked and walked, admiring the floating rocks and searching the walls and ground for traces of Pokémon.

They ran into a couple of curious Joltiks, and a Klink as well. But they disappeared after a while, and the silence continued.

Touko stopped. "Bianca, look." She said, looking forward.

Bianca stopped as well and glanced at where her friend was looking. ".. What?" she asked, trying to find whatever Touko was looking at.

"The path. It's split in two." Touko said.

Bianca looked round. "Oh! Yeah, it is." She said after a while. She turned back to Touko. "So, what do we do?"

Touko frowned. "I think we'll have to split up."

Bianca's eyes widened. "Split up? _Here?_" she exclaimed, horrified. "No! I don't wanna!"

"Oh, it'll be fine." Touko said. "What could possibly happen? Besides, we've got the X-Transcievers. And our Pokémon." She patted her messanger bag and smiled.

"B-but.. uuh.." Bianca hesitated. "Oh, alright then!" she said at last. "But we'll meet again soon, right?"

"Of course, we're only gonna split up 'cause we don't know which way the Swoobat went." Touko assured her. Bianca nodded.

"Ok, see you later." Touko said with a wave. "Bye!"

And the two split up, walking two different paths.

It'd seemed like an easy thing, but the sudden silence frightened Touko a little. She'd felt a lot safer when her friend was around, even if she pulled her down a lot.

_I'll meet her soon. Now, focus on finding the Swoobat!_ She told herself.

Touko increased the pace a little. Once in a while she looked back, afraid it might pop up behind her.

Then she heard it; a flapping sound.

Touko stopped at once and listened. The flapping had stopped.

Touko started moving along the wall, eagerly searching for whatever had made that noise.

_Flap, flap._

There it was! Touko began jogging, as quietly as possible. She was close now, she could feel it. She looked around, searching for something batlike, the bat Pokémon with the stripe..

A shadow moved further ahead. Touko dived down behind a few rocks. She peeked through a crack and gasped.

It was the Swoobat! And it had something across its face.. the white stripe!

Her heart pounded in her chest. Ok, now she had to catch it. She took out the Poké Net and started moving forward, slowly, quietly.

Like a ninja, she thought, holding back a giggle.

The Swoobat landed on a floating rock, scanning the area. Then it started scratching itself.

And Touko moved closer, barely daring to breathe; She was close now, so close, she could see the white stripe clearly now..

She raised her arm and prepared to sprint forward…

"Touko!"

The Swoobat screeched and flew away at once.

Touko almost ran into the floating rock it'd been sitting on. She spun around. Bianca was approaching her.

"What are you _doing?!" _Touko hissed. "I almost had it, Bianca, I was _inches _from catching it!"

Bianca looked at her. "Catching what?"

Touko stared at her as if she'd never seen her before.

"_The Swoobat!"_

"Oh, right.. What?" she looked suddenly bewildered.

Touko raised an angry eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Uh, I thought.. Touko, you can't have almost caught the Swoobat, cuz I've got it right here." Bianca said slowly. She opened her bag, and a Pokémon flew out. The thing was, though…

"Bianca.." Touko fought the urge to yell at her. "This.. is a Golbat."

Bianca blinked. "What? Isn't this what we were supposed to catch?" she asked, looking at the frustrated bat.

"No, we were supposed to catch a Swoobat!" Touko said, keeping her voice down as much as possible. "_Swoo_bat! Not _Gol_bat!"

Bianca bit her lip. "Oh…"

"And, even if this _was_ a Swoobat—" Touko continued, pointing at the angry Golbat. "—then where is the white stripe it's supposed to have?"

Bianca slapped her forehead, gasping. "Oh! That's right, I totally forgot about that.."

Touko facepalmed herself._ Stay calm.. stay calm.. _she kept telling herself as the fought the urge to slap Bianca or something. But Bianca really looked ashamed of herself now.

"I'm sorry, Touko.." she whispered. "I… I…"

Touko saw her face turn red as she looked down at her feet. She sighed deeply, calming herself down. "It's alright, Bianca. I know you were just trying to help." She said and tried to smile. "I'm sorry I got angry."

Bianca looked up, looking relieved. ".. Thanks, Touko." She said, smiling slightly.

She glanced after the Goldbat as it flew away. Touko put away the Poké Net and took a deep breath. "Let's continue tracking down the Swoobat now." She said.

Bianca nodded. "I'll go back. I didn't search the whole path, because I ran back to find you when I caught the Golbat." Touko felt a sting of guilt when she said this.

"Sure.. see you."

And they parted ways again.

Touko kept walking. She wondered where the Swoobat was now. This was getting a little more complicated than she thought it'd be.

She sighed and picked up a stone, observing its oval shape.

Swoobats like caves.. but she were in a cave now.

Swoobats like dark places.. but caves _are _dark places!

Touko frowned. _Swoobats like.. Swoobats like.._ Arceus, she had no idea. She was off track completely. Out of irritation, she threw the oval stone into the wall, leaving a loud echo.

Bianca was ashamed of herself. Why'd she caught a Golbat, when their target was a Swoobat? And a white-striped one, too..

Bianca sighed. Touko was so mad at her.. but then again, she almost caught the real one. Would they be out of here by now if she hadn't rushed in like that?

The sudden rumbling noise interrupted her thoughts. The ground was shaking.

"_Ooooii!" _Bianca squealed in confusion. She staggered sideways to the wall and held on to it. _Is this an earthquake, or what? _Rocks and stones fell down from the ceiling and the air became dusty.

Then, finally, the quake stopped.

Bianca sighed in relief and leaned against the wall, wiping her face and coughing.

When the dust was gone, she noticed how dark it was in the cave; she seemed to have staggered away from the floating rocks.

The sudden stillness frightened her. She automatically moved her hand across her messenger bag, and for a split second she was about to summon her Pokémon. She hesitated. Maybe this wasn't a good place to summon them to?

_Summon or not summon, summon or not summon.._

A loud 'bang' echoed somewhere, and Bianca winced and shrieked.

Out of fright, she threw up a Poké Ball and called for her Musharna.

Musharna appeared, looking slightly confused that there were no foes around. She turned to Bianca, and seemed so sense her fear, because she leaned in and gave understanding and comforting Musharna-noises.

Bianca patted her, smiling.

Then the rumbling started again, and the ground was _shaking_.

Bianca was close to panicking now; "Ugh! C-cmon, let's find a way out of here!" and she and her Musharna set off, probably not thinking of that they left a friend behind in the cave.

Touko examined it closer.

Beneath the place where the oval stone hit the wall.. could it be..? It was a hole. No, a tunnel. Or it _looked _like a tunnel…

Touko started digging, eager to find out. And when she'd got all dirt and sad and stone out of the way – her fingers were red and numb -, it actually _was_ a tunnel in front of her.

She fell onto her knees and crawled inside.

"Finally I can get somewhere." She murmured, pleased with herself.

Then she heard that noise again; the rumbling.

She stopped and listened. It was louder this time.. and it was getting louder as she was thinking. _Much _louder. Then it struck her; it was moving towards her!

And before she was able to react, the whole tunnel started shaking. Touko was thrown from side to side, startled. She covered her head with her arms, and the ground was cracking and fell apart.

She fell.

Her stomach flew up in her throat and she shrieked, falling along the remains of the tunnel down into the darkness beneath.

She opened her eyes carefully. Everything was black. Did she faint?

She tried to rise, but immediately regretted it; Her head was aching horribly, and she couldn't feel her left arm nor leg.

She fell back against a rock behind her. Calming down a little bit, she tried to check her condition. Her head ached, but at least she was able to think correctly, and when she moved her right hand to her face and neck she knew and felt that she had scrapes and minor cuts all over.

She'd regained feeling in her left arm and leg by now, and it was not very nice; her arm felt like someone had stuck hundred needles into her muscles. She tried to move her leg, and immediately shut her eyes and squealed. It hurt like _hell. _She started sweating and was getting dizzy.

She tried to gather her senses and think: How the heck was she going to get out of here?

She was stuck in a mess of crushed, huge rocks, and somewhere above – she thought she could spot a faint light up there – was the exit. The unreachable exit.

Touko whimpered and swore in frustration and disappointment. "Dammit, dammit, dammit..! Arceus, am I going to die down here..?" she murmured to herself.

"Touko?"

She winced and remained still. Did someone call her name just now? Or maybe she'd imagined it..

"Touko?" said the voice again, a little louder. "Touko, is that you?"

Touko looked up eagerly. She was not imagining it! And she would've recognized that voice anywhere.

"_Cheren!" _she called.

"Touko?" Cheren's voice answered.

"Yes, yes, it's me!" Silence followed, and Touko was afraid that he might've left.

"Touko, what are you doing down _there?" _Cheren asked.

"Uh, well, I found a tunnel and went in, and then it cracked and broke apart and I fell down here—"

"And what were you doing in the tunnel..?"

"I thought I'd find the Swoobat!"

"Swoobat..? Touko, what—"

"Cheren, it's a long story, I'll explain later, just—" the pain that rushed through Touko's head interrupted her, and she groaned.

"Touko, are you alright?" Cheren asked, and to Touko's surprise he sounded worried.

"I—uh, well, I—I don't know.." and then it felt like she blacked out and the world was spinning, and before she knew it, Cheren was crouching in front of her. He was using something to light up the place with, though Touko felt so dull she didn't really care what.

"How do you feel?" he asked. Touko shook her head slowly.

Suddenly Cheren leaned in. "Ok, I'll see if I can find any deep woun—_Oh, god!" _he fell back, blinked a few times, then sat up, adjusted his glasses awkwardly and inhaled deeply.

"What's wrong?" Touko asked, getting concerned.

"Well…" Cheren stared at her arm. "Your arm is bleeding… kind of.. a lot."

Touko looked down, and immediately looked away again. It looked more like a bunch of bloody limbs than an arm.

Cheren seemed to be muttering to himself. Touko didn't move, and observed Cheren as he was looking at her arm. He seemed to hesitate, then bit his lip and grabbed Touko's bag and opened it. Touko simply sat there and watched him as he was fumbling with it.

"What are you doing?"

"Searching."

"For what?"

"Bandage."

Touko blinked. "Oh.."

Then it felt like the situation was becoming awkward, so she pointed at her pink bag and spoke: "Well, maybe you should get one of those for yourself."

Cheren didn't answer. A while later, he pushed the bag aside, looking rather angry. "There's nothing in there!"

Touko wasn't surprised; she didn't remember obtaining a first aid kit.

She waved her hand. "It's alright, we can wait until—" she began, but the rip interrupted her.

Touko was confused. "What are you..?" then she realized that he was making bandage of his torn shirt.

"Wha—Cheren, no, don't—"

"Touko, you're bleeding to death, what would I say to your mom?" he cut off, avoiding her gaze.

Touko couldn't help but smile. Cheren wrapped the shirt-made bandage around her arm, and it felt a little better.

Then they fell silent.

".. Thank you.." Touko said after a while.

"Well, it would be hard to get you out if you're drained of all your blood." He answered, looking away.

Silence again.

Cheren cleared his throat. "So, what exactly were you doing in Chargestone Cave in the first place?"

Touko explained about the white-striped Swoobat.

When she'd finished, the look on Cheren's face was rather incredulous.

"So.." he said, with a faint cough. "you're searching.. for a Pokémon?"

Touko nodded. "Yes."

"And Bianca left you?"

"I don't know where she is."

"Aha. Remind me to hurt her later."

Touko giggled, though not for long, because of her head. The worried look on Cheren's face returned, and Touko knew he was looking at her.

"It's alright.." she said sympathetically.

Then the rumbling echoed through the air once again. Touko became suddenly frightened; what if another earthquake was approaching?

Cheren was looking up, frowning. "Don't worry about it. There will be no more earthquakes tonight." He assured her.

He looked at her arm. "And no more bleeding Touko's either."

Touko giggled again.

Cheren rose, and Touko looked up at him questioningly. He adjusted his glasses before speaking. "I'll help you find the Swoobat." He said.

Touko's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Touko nodded and smiled, then made an effort to get up. Cheren awkwardly grabbed her arm and assisted her.

"Ok…" he said, still holding her. "How about flying back up?"

Flying? Oh, that's right.. Touko rolled her eyes. She'd completely forgotten that she'd brought Pokémon with her.

Cheren took out a Poké Ball and summoned his Unfezant. He helped Touko up on its back, then seated himself behind her.

"Ok, let's go!" Touko said happily, and the Unfezant left the ground and flew away, up, towards that faint light that had to be an exit.


End file.
